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   Message 296,987 of 297,461   
   Adam Funk to Tilde   
   Re: How to pronounce the letter "H"   
   02 Jul 25 09:42:25   
   
   From: a24061@ducksburg.com   
      
   On 2025-07-01, Tilde wrote:   
      
   > Adam Funk wrote:   
   > > On 2025-06-09, Tilde wrote:   
   > >   
   > >>   
   > >> For English speakers anyways...   
   > >>   
   > >>   
   > https://theweek.com/culture-life/tv-radio/aitch-or-haitch-the-   
   inguisitic-debate-that-matters-a-lot   
   > >> APRIL 15, 2024   
   > >>   
   > >> The host of "University Challenge", Amol Rajan,   
   > >> is to change the way he pronounces the letter   
   > >> "H" after complaints from viewers that he was   
   > >   
   > > Snobs, presumably. "Haitch" sounds odd to me, because it's rare   
   > > where I come from, but I wouldn't send in complaints about it.   
   >   
   > Yes, sounds odd. See below...   
   >   
   > >> doing it incorrectly during his first series   
   > >> presenting the BBC quiz.   
   > >>   
   > >> Rajan found himself at the centre of a   
   > >> linguistic storm when he was criticised by   
   > >> viewers for saying "haitch" rather than "aitch",   
   > >> an approach described as "horrible with a capital   
   > >> aitch" on social media and "truly awful" in a   
   > >> newspaper letters page.   
   > >   
   > > On the other hand:   
   > >   
   > >     When the letter H is pronounced beginning with the letter sound it   
   > >     makes, children have an easier time learning its correspondence as   
   > >     they learn to read.   
   > >   
   > >   
   >   
   >   
   > "haitch" does sound oldish. Wondering if there is a   
   > difference/preference between English as spoken in   
   > America or GB... If you recite the alphabet (again,   
   > this is for English speakers), sure seems to come   
   > out "aitch".   
      
   I'm pretty sure I've never heard "haitch" in AmE (but I can't promise   
   it doesn't exist in some dialects).   
      
      
   --   
   There is nothing like looking, if you want to find something. You   
   certainly usually find something, if you look, but it is not always   
   quite the something you were after.           (Tolkien: The Hobbit)   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)   

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